Overview

""[T]his is a testimonial to a courageous woman and her deep commitment to human rights."" Booklist, Starred Review • An accessible biography of Fannie Lou Hamer that reveals pivotal moments within a remarkable life that spanned 59 tumultuous years in the history of American race relations. In 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer delivered a heart-wrenching testimony before the Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) Credentials Committee. In this speech, Hamer represented both the concerns of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and the limits of American democracy when she proclaimed: “I question America. Is this the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily? Because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?” This is the speech that sent President Lyndon B. Johnson into a state of outright panic, as he diverted the media’s attention away from Hamer’s stinging indictment of the nation he led. This is the speech that left most Credentials Committee members in tears, forced Johnson to negotiate with the MFDP, and compelled the Democratic Party to vow they would never again seat a segregated delegation. And this is the speech that television networks, made wise to Johnson’s diversionary tactics, replayed during their evening programs, thereby bringing Fannie Lou Hamer into the living rooms of Americans across the nation. As significant as the 1964 DNC speech is, this book will underscore that Hamer’s testimony was but one moment within a remarkable life that spanned fifty-nine tumultuous years in the history of American race relations. For the first forty-four years of her life, Hamer lived on sharecropping plantations, all the while learning life lessons from her family, the Black Baptist religious tradition, and from the oppressive white supremacist mores surrounding her. Once Hamer’s life path intersected with the mid-century Civil Rights Movement, she spent fifteen years (1962-1977) traveling from the South to the North—and even to the West Coast of Africa—advocating civil rights, economic justice, and interracial cooperation. Hamer shared the platform with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, who introduced her to an audience in Harlem as “the country’s number one freedom fighting woman.” This accessible biography will enrich public memory about Hamer by telling not only the significant story of her riveting testimony, but also by recounting a life filled with triumphs, tragedies, and accompanying lessons for contemporary audiences.

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"This in-depth biography of a civil rights icon also serves as unflinching testimony to the horrors of racism. . . . [Brooks] had unusual access to Hamer's personal correspondence and family members for this biography. She has documented a life of unparalleled dedication set against a background of unrelenting discrimination, personal tragedy, and social upheaval. Sympathetic and authoritative, at times difficult to read, this is a testimonial to a courageous woman and her deep commitment to human rights. * Booklist, Starred Review * Drawing heavily from oral histories and interviews with Fannie Lou Hamer, her family and friends, and her fellow civil rights workers, Brooks. . . here presents an intimate account of Hamer's life and work for The Library of African American Biography. Hamer's personal life and political activism were inseparable, each informing the other, and Brooks weaves them together in a highly readable narrative that feels fresh and immediate, especially at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement. . . The afterword, ""It's in Your Hands,"" uses the ""transformative power"" of Hamer's story as a call to action for today's readers. . . Recommended. All levels. * Choice Reviews * My mom, Fannie Lou Hamer, fought for the rights of others and never showed weary. Maegan is a fighter in her own right. I give thanks to Maegan Parker Brooks for her determination to make sure that future generations will have the correct information on not only the civil rights, but also the human rights struggle that was endured. -- Jacqueline Hamer, daughter of Fannie Lou Hamer Maegan Parker Brooks has written a passionate account of the life and times of Fannie Lou Hamer in Fannie Lou Hamer: America’s Freedom Fighting Woman. Brooks’ writing is compelling, elucidating, and engaging. Reading this book is itself a course in the heroic Civil Rights Era. I am happy to encourage my students and friends to read this book. -- Molefi Kete Asante, professor and chair, Department of Africology, Temple University, author of The History of Africa Fannie Lou Hamer often reminded audiences that in the United States, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” Maegan Parker Brooks’s magnificent biography proves that Hamer’s words ring just as true in the 21st century as they did in the 1960s. Packed with insight on every page, Fannie Lou Hamer: America’s Freedom Fighting Woman centers Hamer’s ideas and strategies for social change, and makes a convincing case that they’re as urgently necessary today as they were in Mrs. Hamer’s time. -- Todd Moye, Robnett Professor of U.S. History, University of North Texas This beautifully written, vibrant book does justice to Mrs. Hamer and that’s the highest compliment I can give. Brooks’s Fannie Lou Hamer: America’s Freedom Fighting Woman offers a compelling portrait of this tough, brilliant, determined, resilient warrior whose fierce and compelling voice rang out for justice—from the Mississippi Delta to the corridors of power. Brooks shows us how, as a sharecropper with limited formal education, Mrs. Hamer represents the potential in so-called ordinary citizens. And with her willingness to upend her life in order to register to vote and follow the path that unfolded, this extraordinary woman demonstrates the power of unbanked fire and reminds us that we can all fight for justice, and we must. More than ever, we need to know about Mrs. Hamer and there is no better place to start. -- Emilye Crosby, author of A Little Taste of Freedom: The Black Freedom Struggle in Claiborne County, Mississippi"

Author Information

Maegan Parker Brooks teaches in the Civic Communication and Media Department and the American Ethnic Studies Program at Willamette University in Salem, OR. Brooks also directs Find Your Voice: The Online Resource for Fannie Lou Hamer Studies, a website developed in partnership with civil rights scholars and public school teachers in the Mississippi Delta. Brooks' previous books about Fannie Lou Hamer are The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell It Like It Is, co-edited with Davis W. Houck, and A Voice that Could Stir an Army: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Rhetoric of the Black Freedom Movement, a Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2015.

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